Rotary offset printing machine with auxiliary offset cylinder



Oct. 20, 1959 R. J CRISSY 2,909,117

ROTARY OFFSET PRINTING MACHINE WITH AUXILIARY OFFSET'CYLINDER 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 25, 1955 Illllili INVENTOR. Robert J, Criksy DM5 11 TTORNE 1 5 I 2,909,] 1 7 TH Oct. 20, 1959 R. J. cR|ssY ROTARYOFFSET PRINTING MACHINE WI AUXILIARY OFFSET CYLINDER 6 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 25; 1955 B Y A *6 MAR/1 .4 TTORNE Y R. J. ROTARY OFFSET 1959cR|ssY 2,909,117

PRINTING MACHINE WITH AUXILIARY OFFSET CYLINDER s She ets-Sheet 3 FiledMay 25, 1955 W .muH.

An m M V r N z I .Q 9 m R N hww xcfiw QSQQ m VN R. J. CRISSY Oct. 20,1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 25, 1955 R m 8x33 m 2 2 55 6 m t r M Q mn Y B uudxsw I ZQ ZB\E N b E h m 2Q\ W9 N q hN d Qwafi mW IK \w ox .8KQQQQQQ K Oct. 20, 1959 R. J. CRISSY ROTARY OFFSET PRINTING MACHINE WITHAUXILIARY OFFSET CYLINDER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1955 KQQRN AWbbm INVENTOR. Rqbert J. Crissy 62.404. BY J ATTORNEYS Oct. 20, 1959* R.J. CRISSY ROTARY OFFSET PRINTING MACHINE WITH AUXILIARY OFFSET CYLINDERFiled May 25, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. Robert J. Crissy M l, Byjud/LW ATTORNEYS I United States Patent ROTARY OFFSET PRINTING MACHINEWITH AUXILIARY OFFSET CYLINDER This invention relates to a rotaryprinting press and to a method of printing wherein during a singlemachine cycle, it is possible to print on opposite sides of a sheet, tosuperimpose different printing matter on either or both sides of asheet, to repeat an image from a single form or plate on the same ordifferent sheets, and other varied effects. The superimposition ofdifferent printing matter makes it possible to print a composite imageby combining different colors, by combining images of relief and offsetplates and by combining information of two or more printing plates. 7

In the rotary printing press of the present invention a rotatableauxiliary cylinder is arranged to engagea main cylinder of the press,the main cylinder carrying one or more printing surfaces thereon, andink impressions are transferred by the auxiliary cylinder from oneportion of the periphery of the main cylinder to another portionthereof. The auxiliary cylinder may be moved into contact withpredetermined portions of the periphery of the main cylinder during amachine cycle, so that only certain impressions will be received by theauxiliary cylinder from the printing plates carried by the maincylinder, or the auxiliary cylinder may be maintained in operativerelationship with the main cylinder during the entire machine cycle sothat all the impressions will be received from the main cylinder and oneor more impressions will be transferred to the surface of the maincylinder.

In another aspect of the invention one or; more impressions may betransferred from the one cylinder of the press to the other cylinderthereof, permitting the pressto be employed for perfection printing. Inthis way, superimposed images from different printing areas of the onecylinder may be transferred to the other cyl inder. Thus, a sheet fedbetween the cylinders will receive the composite image on one side ofthe sheet, as well as images on the other side from the main cylinder.

The machine of the present invention is readily converted from one useto another, and consequently it makes available to the small printer awide and varied assortment of different printing methods and effectsheretofore impossible with a single printing press.

For a complete understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to a detailed description which follows and to the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

'Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a rotary printing machine equipped withthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear view of the cylinders and the drive meanstherefor;

Fig. 3 is a broken-away side elevation of a portionof the machinerepresented in Fig. 2;

' Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the means for supporting one endof the auxiliary cylinder;

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the means for supporting the otherend of the auxiliary cylinder;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of themachine of the present invention to perfection printing;

ice

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating the application of the machine of thepresent invention to the printing of a composite image formed bysuperimposing images from offset and relief printing plates;

Fig. 7 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionfor printing, during each machine cycle, a composite image on one sideof a sheet formed by superimposing images from offset plates and adifferent image on the opposite side of the sheet;

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionto the superimposing of different images and different printing mediaonto a common form and repeating the composite image several times onone side of a sheet of paper;

Fig. 9 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionto the printing of multiple colors from different media on a commoncylinder in a single machine cycle;

Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionto a machine for repeating the same image several times on a sheet ofpaper from a single form or plate; and

Fig. 11 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionto a machine wherein the main cylinder carries three removable segments.

Referring to the drawings, the present invention is shown as applied toa rotary printing press of the general organization represented in US.Letters Patent No. 2,387,750, to W. W. Davidson, wherein a pair ofrotatable cylinders 10, 11 are disposed in substantially tangentialrelationship, the upper cylinder 10 being twice the diameter of thelower cylinder 11. The upper cylinder 10 is supported by a transverseshaft 14 which extends between the side frames 12, 13 of the machine.The lower cylinder 11 is supported on a transverse shaft 16, and theshaft 16 is provided with eccentric trunnions 1601 at both ends whichsupport the shaft between the side frames 12, 13 of the machine. Asshown in Fig. 2, a gear 15 is carried by the shaft 14 for driving thecylinder 10. Also, the shaft 16 carries a gear 17 adjacent the cylinder11, and the gear 17 is connected to the cylinder 11 by means of coupling19, such as an Oldha-m type coupling, to permit the cylinder 11 to betranslated towards and away from the larger cylinder 10 withoutdisengaging the gears 15, 17. The power for rotating the cylinders istransmitted from a motor (not shown) by means of a gear 18 (see Fig. 1)which drives the gear 17.

Referring to Fig. 1, the sheets to be printed are fed one at a timeacross a guide plate or table 20, and the leading edges of the sheetsare delivered to grippers (not shown) supported between and transportedin an orbital path by a pair of moving chains 21. The chains 21 eachform a closed loop passing around a pair of sprockets 22 and 23, thesprockets 22 being supported by the shaft 16 and the sprockets 23 beingsupported by a transverse shaft 24 extending between the side frames ofthe machine. The grippers guide the sheets through the bite between thecylinders 10,- 11, and the sheets are ultimately discharged and stacked,one on top of another, upon a delivery platform (not shown).

As described in the above-identified patent, the machine 10 is suitablefor use in both letterpress and offset printing. When used in offsetprinting, the periphery of the larger cylinder 10 is provided withremovable plate and platen segments while the smaller cylinder carries ablanket, During the first half revolution of the large cylinder, theimage on the plate is transferred to the blanket of the smallercylinder, and during the next half revolution, the blanket transfers theimage to a sheetpassing between the cylinders, the platen serving as animpression surface. The machine may be converted into a direct printingletterpress machine by rement of the gears 15, 17. The separation of thesmaller cylinder from the larger cylinder is accomplished by therotation of the eccentric trunnions 16a, which trunnions are normallyspring urged for rotation in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed inFig. 1, to effect this separation. The separation of the smallercylinder is normally prevented, however, by the engagement of a pivotallatch 25 with a shoulder 26 of a disc member 27 carried at the extremeend of one of the trunnions 16a. Thus, while the latch 25 is in positionto engage the shoulder 26, the cylinder will be maintained in operativeprinting relationship with the larger cylinder 10.

The release of the pivotal latch 25 to effect the separation of thecylinder is brought about as follows. During each cycle of operation, areciprocating sheet-detecting finger 28, driven in synchronism with thepress, moves relative to the upper surface of the plate and across aslot 29 formed therein. Directly beneath the slot 29 is an upright arm30 connected to a pivotal shaft 31, and the latch 25 is freely pivotedon the shaft 31 so that the shaft is free to rotate independently of thelatch. Although the shaft 31 is free to rotate independently of thelatch, the shaft 31 carries a pin 32 which is connected by means of atension spring 34 to a downwardly. depending pin 33 of the latch. Thus,if the shaft 31 should be rotated in a counterclockwise direction by theengagement of the reciprocating finger 28 with the upper end of the arm30, as will be the case when the finger fails to detect a sheet, tensionwill be applied by means of the spring 34 to urge the pivotal latch 25out of engagement with the shoulder 26. The heavy spring pressure,however, which tends to rotate the small cylinder 11 on its trunnions16a will cause the shoulder 26 to exert sufficient pressure upon thelatch 25 to prevent its release until this pressure is relieved by theoperation of a pivotal lever 37. a

The lever 37 is pivotaliy supported on a shaft 38 to the side frame 13of the machine, and the lower end of the lever is connected to a tensionspring 39 which ordinarily maintains the lever against a fixed stop 40.The upper end of the lever carries a roller 41 which is engaged by theraised surface of a cam 42 during each cycle of the machine to pivot thelever 37 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. When thelever 37 is thus actuated, the lower end will strike the surface 27a ofthe disc 27, thereby momentarily relieving the pressure exerted by theshoulder 26 against the latch 25. If, therefore, the reciprocatingfinger 28 has detected a missing sheet during the cycle and has appliedpressure to the spring 34 due to engagement with the arm 30, the latch25 will be pivoted to inoperative position, permitting separation of thecylinders 10, 11. Otherwise, the latch will remain in the operativeposition, preventing separation of the cylinders. The action of thelever 37 against the surface 27a is only momentary, and, therefore, thelever does not interfere with the rotation of the trunnions 16a toeffect a separation of the cylinders.

The separation of the cylinders, of course, prevents unnecessary andundesirable transfer of an inked impression from the larger cylinder tothe smaller cylinder during a machine cycle in which a sheet has notbeen supplied.

The arm 30 is restored to its upright position when the finger moves outof engagement with the arm by the action of a spring 43 which acts onthe shaft 31 through a pin 44 thereof. If a sheet is supplied during thefollowing cycle of the machine following a cycle during which thecylinders of the printing couple were separated, the engagement of thepin 32 with a shoulder (not shown) formed on the latch 25 will restorethe latch to its operative position against the shoulder 26 the nexttime that the disc 27 is actuated by the lever 37. Of course, if a sheethas not been supplied during this next cycle of operation, the latch 25will not be thus restored.

The operation of the machine as thus far described is conventional andforms no part of the present invention, except insofar as the operatingparts of the present invention cooperate therewith and depend thereon.For a more complete understanding of the operation of the conventionalmachine, reference may be had to the aboveidentified patent.

Turning now to a description of the present invention, an auxiliaryrotatable cylinder 45 is arranged in tangential relationship to thecylinder 10. The cylinder '45, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 4A, issupported on a shaft 46, and the shaft 46 is eccentrically supported atboth ends to permit the surface of the cylinder 45 to be moved into andout of operative contact with the surface of the cylinder 10 as desired.

As shown in Fig. 4A, one end of the shaft 46 is provided with aneccentric journal 47 which is rotatably supported within a bearing 47bof the frame 13. The other end of the shaft 46, as shown in Fig. 4, isformed with an eccentric trunnion 46a which is suported eccentrically ofthe axis of a rotatable bushing 48. The bushing 48 is rotatable within abearing 49 of the frame 12.

A hand lever 50 is connected to the extreme end of the bushing 48outside the frame 12 to permit the rotational adjustment of the bushing48. The bore in the bushing 48 in which the trunnion 46a is journaled isofiset with respect to the axis of rotation of the bushing 48, so thatrotation of the bushing will move the corresponding end of the shaft 46toward or away from the large cylinder 10. This adjustment of the angleof the axis of the shaft 46 makes it possible to obtain uniformity ofpressure along the entire line of contact between the cylinders 45 and10. As shown in Fig. 3, the adjusting lever 50 is provided with arcuateslots 50a which accommodate screws 49a, the screws being received inthreaded holes in the outside face of the bearing 49. When, therefore,the lever is adjusted to the desired position it may be locked in placeby tightening the screws 49a.

The auxiliary cylinder 45 is driven by means of a gear 52 which mesheswith the gear 15 associated with the large cylinder. The gear 52, asbest shown in Fig. 4,-is rotatably supported on the bearing 49. Topermit the auxiliary cylinder 45 to be moved toward and away from thecylinder 10 without-disengaging the gears 15 and 52, the gear 52 isconected to the auxiliary cylinder by means of an Oldham type coupling53 (see Fig. 2), similar to the coupling 19 which is employed to connectthe gear 17 with the cylinder 11.

Turning now to the mechanism for moving the auxiliary cylinder 45 intoand out of contact with the periphery of the cylinder 10, the extremeend 47a (see Figs. 1 and 4A) of the trunnion 47 carries a disc 54thereon which is formed with a hub portion 54b, and the hub portionaccommodates a lever 57 thereon. A boss 54a carry ing an adjustablescrew 55 therein is formed integrally on the disc 54, and the end of theset screw is adapted to engage a shoulder 57a formed on the lever 57.The lever 57 is attached to the outside face of the disc 54 by means ofthe screws 58 which engage arcuate slots 59 in the lever. The adjustmentof the set screw 55 permits the lever 57 to be adjusted with precisionrelatively to the disc 54, and the lever 57 and disc 54 may be locked inthe adjusted relative position by tightening thescrews 58.

The cylinder 45 is normally maintained out of operative contact with thecylinder 10 by means of a. tension Spring 60 connected between a pin 61on the frame 13 and a pin 62 on the lever 57. The cylinder 45, however,may be maintained in operative engagement with the cylinder by a pivotallatch 65 which engages a shoulder 57b formed on the lever 57.

The latch 65 is normally maintained in shoulder engaging position by aspring 67. The latch 65, however, is adapted to be released to separatethe auxiliary cylinder 45 from the cylinder 10 (a) during cycles inwhich a sheet has not been fed between the cylinders 10, 11 and (b) atpredetermined times to prevent the transfer of certain images orportions of images from the large cylinder 10 to the auxiliary cylinder.

The actual separation of the auxiliary cylinder 45 from the cylinder 10is brought about by the actuation of the long horizontal link 68. Thelower end of the latch 65 carries a pin 70 which is accommodated withina slot 71 at one end of the link 68. The link also is provided with aslot 73 which accommodates a fixed pin 72 extending from the frame 13,and a spring 74 is connected between the pin 72 and the link, urging thelink in a leftward direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, to a positiondetermined by the engagement of the end of the slot with the pin 7 2-.

When the link is in this normal leftward position, the tension of thespring 67 will maintain the pivotal latch 65 in its operative positionin engagement with the shoulder 57b. The pin 70 of the latch 65,however, is connected to the link 68 by a tension spring 75, and whenthe link 68 is shifted to the rightward position, by means to bedescribed below, the tension of the spring 75 overcomes the effect ofthe spring 67 urging the latch 65 to an inoperative or release positiondetermined by the stop 77. The frictional engagement between theshoulder 57b and the latch 65 caused by the spring 68, however, preventsthe release of the latch, until the pressure is relieved.

. The pressure is adapted to be relieved momentarily by the operation ofa lever 80 which, like the lever 37 is pivoted on the shaft 38. Thelower end of the lever 80 carries an adjustable screw 84 which, when thelever is actuated, strikes the surface 57c of the lever 57, momentarilyrelieving the pressure of the shoulder 57b against the latch 65. If,therefore, the link 68 has been shifted in a rightward direction, sothat the latch is conditioned for operation, the latch will be releasedduring this momentary separation between the latch 65 and the shoulder57 b, permitting the spring 60 to throw the auxiliary cylinder 45 out ofoperative contact with the cylinder 18. The operation of the lever 86is, of course, only momentary so that it does not remain in contact withthe surface 57c long enough to interfere with the throw out of thecylinder 45.

Thelever 80 is maintained in an inoperative position against a fixedstop 81 by the tension of a spring 82. The lever, however, carries aroller 83 which, when engaged by the raised surfaces 85a and 85b of thecam 85, pivots the lower end of the lever, causing the screw 84 tostrike the surface 57c of the lever 57. If, of course, the latch 65 hasnot been conditioned for release by the rightward movement of the link68, the pivotal operation of the lever 80 does not effect the separationof the auxiliary cylinder 45 from the cylinder 10.

Y As mentioned above, the separation of the auxiliary cylinder 45 fromthe cylinder 10 is eifected during cycles when no sheet is fed betweenthe cylinders 10, 115. The movement of the link 68 to condition thelatch 65 for release in this event is controlled by an arm 98 connectedto the extreme end of the rock shaft 31. When the shaft 31 is rocked bythe engagement of the sheet detector 28 with the arm 30, the arm 95 willbe pivoted, so that a pin 91 on the lower end of the arm engages ashoulder 92 formed by a cut-out portion in the upper edge of the link.In this way, the pivotal movement of the arm 90 shifts the link to theright, as viewed in Fig. 1, and when the link is thus shifted theresulting increase of tension of the spring 75 will condition the latch65 for operation. When the 6 latch 65 is thus conditioned for release,the actual release of the latch to bring about the separation of thecylinder 45 from the cylinder 10 is, as mentioned above, effected I bythe operation of the lever 80. i

The throw out of the auxiliary cylinder 45 is also effected when it isdesired toprevent the surface of the cylinder 45 from receiving imagesfrom certain portions of the periphery-of the cylinder 10. The throw outat such times is controlled by the operation of a lever 95 pivoted at 96to the frame 13. The lower end of the lever 95 is bifurcated, and thebifurcated end engages a pin 97a of the link 68. The upper end ofthelever 95 lies in the path of a cam roller 97 mounted to the outsideface of the cam 85. When this cam engages the upper end of the lever 95,it produces a, counterclockwise movement of the lever 95, therebyshiftingthe link 68 against the action of the spring 74 to condition thelatch 65 for release. If

then the lever is actuated while the lat-ch 65-is conditioned forrelease, the auxiliary cylinder will be separated from the surface ofthe cylinder 10.

It is, of course, understood that the points at which the throw out ofthe auxiliary cylinder is to occur during a cycle of the machine can bedetermined by the design of the cam and by adding additional cam rollers97. In the arrangement shown in Fig. l, the relative positions of theraised surface 85b of the cam 85 and the roller 97 carried thereby aresuch that, as the cylinder 10 rotates in a clockwise direction, asviewed in that figure, the roller 97 will first actuate the lever 95,thereby shifting the link 68 in the direction to condition the latch forrelease, and while the lever is thus actuated, the raised surface 85b ofthe cam will actuate the lever 80 thereby effecting the separation ofthe auxiliary cylinder 45 from the cylinder 10. The auxiliary cylinderwill remain separated until the lever 80 is actuated by the raisedsurface 85a. Since at this time the lever' 95 has not been actuated tocondition the latch 65 for release, the pivotal operation of the lever80 will merely rock the lever 57 to permit the latch 65 to move intoengagement with the shoulder 57b.

It is evident that the separationof the auxiliary cylinder 45 may beeffected at additional times during the cycle of the machine to achievecertain effects which will be described in detail below.

For example, Fig. 5 shows the application'of the machine, of the presentinvention to perfection printing wherein the auxiliary cylinder 45 isone-quarter the diameter of the cylinder 10. The cylinder 10 carriessegments in three of its quadrants, namely an offset blanket segment 10a,an offset printing plate segment 10b bearing a mirror image 1 and anoffset printing plate segment 10c bearing a positive image 2. The offsetblanket segment 10a is diametrically opposite the positive plate segment10c, and the mirror image segment 10b is between the two. The surface10d of the auxiliary cylinder serves as an offset blanket, and thecylinder 11 carries a semicylindrical offset blanket segment 10e.

In operation, the blanket surface 10d of the auxiliary cylinder 45 ismoved into operative contact with the segments 10a and 10b of the largecylinder 10, and separated from the cylinder 10 during the other halfcycle of the machine. Consequently, the image 1 of the segment 10b istransferred to the blanket 10d of the auxiliary cylinder, and in turnthe blanket surface 10d of the auxiliary cylinder transfers the image tothe blanket surface of the segment 10a. The positive image 2 of thesegment 10c is transferred to the blanket segment 102 of the cylinder11. Therefore, a sheet fed between the cylinders 10,11 will 'be printedon one side from the segment 10a, receiving the image 1 therefrom, andon the other side from the stag I ment 10e, receiving the image 2therefrom, during a single cycle of the machine. I

Fig. 6 illustrates the adaptationof the'machine ofthe present inventionfor printing a composite image on one side of a sheet by superimposingimages from offset and relief printing plates. In this arrangement, thesegment fis an offset plate bearing a mirror'giniage and the segment10g'is a relief plate bearing a mirror image 2.; The segment10htherebetween is an offset blanket. In this case, also, the surface10i of the auxiliary cylinder serves as a blanket. The segment 10carried by the cylinder 11 serves as an impression surface. In thisembodiment, it is not necessary to movethe auxiliary cylinder toward andaway from the cylinder 10, since it is desirable that the auxiliarycylinder operatively engage the segments 10), 10k and 10g of thecylinder 10. During the rotation of the cylinder 10, the image 1 fromthe offset plate segment 10 and the image 2 from the relief plate 10gare superimposed on the blanket surface 101' of the auxiliary cylinder,and the composite image is transferred to the blanket segment 10h, whichsurface transfers the composite image onto a sheet fed between thecylinders Fig. 7 illustrates adaptation of the machine of the presentinvention for printing, during eachmachine cycle, a composite imageformed by superimposed images from offset plates on one side of a sheetand a different image on the opposite side of the sheet. Accordingly, inthis arrangement the cylinder 10 is equipped with segments 10k, 10l, 10mand 1011. The segment 10k carries an olfset printing plate bearing apositive image 1, the segment 10l carries an offset printing platebearing a mirror image/2, the segment 10m carries a blanket surface andthe segment 10n carries a relief printing plate bearing a mirror image3. The surface 100 of the auxiliary cylinder serves as a blanket, andthe surface of the segment 10p carried by the cylinder 11 also serves asa blanket.

' In this embodiment, the auxiliary cylinder 45 is moved into contactwith the segments 10l, 10m and 10:1, and thrown out so as not to receivean image from the segment 10k. The images 2 from the segment 10! and theimage 3 from the segment 10 will be superimposed on the blanket surface100 of the auxiliary cylinder, and the superimposed composite image willbe transferred to the segment 10m. The image 1 of the segment 10k willbe transferred to the segment 10p. Consequently, a sheet fed between thecylinders 10, 11 will receive the composite image 2 and 3 from thesegmentlflm: on one side and the image 1 from the segment 10p on theopposite side thereof. 7

Fig. 8 illustrates the adaptation of the machine of the presentinvention to the superimposing of different images and differentprinting media onto a common form and repeating the composite imageseveral times on the one side of a sheet of paper. In this embodiment,the diameter of the auxiliary cylinder 45a is only oneeighth thediameter of the larger cylinder 10, and the auxiliary cylinder need notoscillate. The large cylinder carries segments 10q and 101', oneadjacent to the other, and each being one-eighth of the entirecircumference of the cylinder 10. The segment 10: is an offset platebearing a mirror image 1, and the segment 10r may be a relief platebearing a mirror image 2. The large cylinder 10 also carries a segment103 which occupies substantially one-half the circumference of thecylinder and carries a blanket surface.

In operation, the image 1 from the segment 10q and the image 2 from thesegment 10r are super-imposed on the surface of the auxiliary cylinder45a, which surface serves as a blanket, and the cylinder 45a repeats thecomposite superimposed image 1 and 2 four times over on the blanketsurface segment 10s. The segment 10s then prints the repeated image on asheet fed between the cylinders 10, 11, the surface of cylinder 11serving as animpression surface.

Fig. 9 illustrates the adaptation of the machine of the presentinvention to the printing of multiple colors from different printingmedia on a common cylinder during a single machine cycle. Thisembodiment is essentially the same as that described in connection withFig. 6, except that the image's carried by the segments 10 and graham 810g are of dilferent color. For example, the segment 10 may receiveblack ink and the segment 10g red ink, and the red and black images maybe superimposed on the blanket surface 10i of the auxiliary cylinder 45.The blanket surface of the segment 101' will then transfer the compositeimage to the blanket surface of the segment 10h from which they areprinted on a sheet passing be tween the cylinders 10, 11.

Finally, the Fig. 10 illustrates the application of the presentinvention to a machine for repeating the same image several times on asheet of paper from a single form or plate carried by the segment 10:1.This arrangement is essentially the same'as the arrangement shown inFig. 8, except that the segment 10r is removed. The image from the plate10g is transferred to the auxiliary cylinder. The image is repeated fourtimes on the blanket surface of the segment 10s, and the repeated imageis printed on a sheet passing between the cylinders 10, 11, the surfaceof the cylinder, 11 serving as an impression surface. 1

It is evident that all of these arrangements, as well as others, areobtainable on a machine of the type described in the above-identifiedDavidson patent merely by chang' ing the segments carried by thecylinders 10, 11, substituting an auxiliary cylinder of differentdiameter and controlling the time at which the auxiliary cylinder ismoved into operative engagement and thrown out'of operative engagementwith the cylinder 10.

It is, of course, evident that in addition to superimposing multipleimages on an auxiliary cylinder to obtain interesting printing effects,it is also possible to superimpose multiple images on one of the presscylinders, whereby the composite image formed thereby may be printeddirectly on a sheet. For example, an arrangement is shown in Fig. 11 ofa machine wherein the main cylinder, generally designated 100, carriesthree segments 101, 102 and 103 about its periphery. The circumferenceof the effective surface of the auxiliary cylinder 104 is equal to thecircumferential length of each of the segments carried by the maincylinder. The smaller cylinder 105, which together with the cylinderforms. the printing press, is the same size as the auxiliary cylinder104. a

As usual, the paper sheets are fed from a conveyor 106 to grippers 107carried by continuous chains 108 which encircle the sprockets 109 and110. The grippers 107 receive the leading edges of sheets fed from theconveyor 106, carry the sheets between the cylinders 100 and andultimately release the sheets in a paper hopper 111, much in the samemanner as in the operation of the Davidson machine.

In this arrangement a sheet may be fed during each cycle of operation ofthe machine, thesheet being in contact with the segment 103 and thesurface of the cylinder 105. It is evident, therefore, that the surfaceof the cylinder 105, may, if desired, receive images from either or bothof the segments 101 and 102, if the press is to be used for perfectionprinting. Thus, superimposed images mabe received by the image receivingsurface of the cylinder 105 and a composite image printed therefrom ontoa sheet of paper. Obviously if the press is not used for perfectionprinting, the surface of the cylinder 105 may serve merely as animpression surface.

Also, the auxiliary cylinder 104 may be moved into operative contactwith any or all of the segments 101, 102 and 103 to receive images fromcertain of the segments and to transfer them to the surfaces of other ofthe segments. Thus, this arrangement makes it possible to transfersuperposed images to the surface of the cylinder 105 from two or moresegments of the larger cylinder 100, so that the cylinder 105 may printa composite image thereof on one side of a sheet. Also, superposedimages from two or more segments of the cylinders 100 may be transferredto the surface of the auxiliary cylinder 104 and a composite imagetransferred to an image receiving segment of the cylinder 100, so thatthe composite image may be printed thereby on the other side of asheet.Obviously, a greater number of segments may be carried by the largercylinder 100, so that composite images may be printed on both sides ofthe sheet. It will be observed that this embodiment provides for twoseparate inking mechanisms 113 and 114 and a dampening unit 115. Thisarrangement will, therefore, permit printing in two colors during asingle cycle of operation from olfset and/ or relief printing media.Thus, it is evident that the invention is applicable to machines of awide variety, regardless of the number of segments carried by the largercylinder 100 of the printing press.

The various arrangements above described are, of course, not intended tobe exhaustive of the number of Ldiiferent printing effects which can beachieved on this machine by means of the present invention. Theinvention has been shown by way of example only, and variousmodifications and variations may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

It is 'to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not to belimited to any specified form or embodiment, except insofar as suchlimitations are set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary printing press, two cylinders in substantially tangentialrelationship comprising the printing press, an auxiliary cylinder insubstantially tangential relationship with respect to one of thecylinders of the press, said auxiliary cylinder receiving images fromareas of the cylinder and transferring the images to other areas of thecylinder, means for feeding sheets to the printing press, first meansfor effecting the separation of the cylinders comprising the press, andsecond means for eifecting the separation of the auxiliary cylinder andthe cylinder of the press which it engages, sheet detecting means, meanscontrolled by the sheet detecting means for conditioning both said firstand second means for operation, means for triggering the operation ofsaid first means at a predetermined time in the machine cycle, wherebythe cylinders comprising the press will be separated if said first andsecond means have been previously conditioned for operation, and meansfor triggering independently the operation of said second means at apredetermined time in the machine cycle, whereby the auxiliary cylinderand the cylinder of the press will be separated if said first and secondmeans have been previously conditioned for operation, and means forimparting a predetermined series of movements to the auxiliary cylinderduring each printing cycle to move the auxiliary cylinder into contactwith predetermined areas of said cylinder and to move the auxiliarycylinder out of contact with predetermined areas of said cylinder.

' 2. In a rotary printing press, two cylinders in substantiallytangential relationship comprising the printing press, an auxiliarycylinder in substantially tangential relationship with one of thecylinders of the press, said auxiliary cylinder receiving imagm from andtransferring images to areas of the press cylinder, rotatable eccentricsupports for the auxiliary cylinder, the rotation of the supports movingthe auxiliary cylinder toward and away from the press cylinder, meansurging the rotation of the supports to move the auxiliary cylinder awayfrom the press cylinder, a latch for preventing the rotation of thesupports to prevent the movement of the auxiliary cylinder away from thepress cylinder, means operable at predetermined times during a machinecycle, sheet 'detecting means, means for conditioning the latch forrelease, said means being controlled by the failure of the sheetdetecting means to detect the feeding of a sheet during a machine cycleand by means operable at predetermined times during a machine cycle,means for effecting the release of the latch at predetermined timesduring the machine cycle after the latch has been previously conditionedfor release, thereby separating the auxiliary cylinder from the presseylindenand, in addi= tion, for effectingfthe release .of the latch if asheet is not delivered to the printing press during a given cycle ofoperation.

3. In a rotary printing press, two cylinders in substantially tangentialrelationship comprising the printing press, an auxiliary cylinder insubstantially tagential relationship with one of the cylinders of thepress, said auxiliary cylinder receiving images from certain areas ofthepress cylinder and transferring the images to certain other areas ofthe press cylinder, rotatable eccentric supports for the auxiliarycylinder, the rotation of said supports moving the auxiliary cylindertoward and away from the press cylinder, means urging the rotation ofthe supports to move the auxiliary cylinder away from the presscylinder, a shoulder associated with the rotatable eccentric supports, alatch normally engaging the shoulder to maintain the auxiliary cylinderin operative engagement with the press cylinder, a movable link tocondition the latch for release, a yielding connection between the linkand the latch, whereby the movement of the link urges the latch torelease position, the pressure between the shoulder and the latchpreventing the release of the latch, a cam operated lever for moving thethe link to condition the latch for release, sheet detecting means,means controlled by the failure of the sheet detecting means to sensethe feeding of a sheet during a machine cycle to move the link tocondition the latch for release, and a cam operated lever for reducingthe pressure between the latch and the shoulder to effect the release ofthe latch when the link has been moved to condition the latch forrelease.

4. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, the diameterof one of the cylinders being a multiple of the diameter of the other,the larger cylinder carrying a plurality of segments, including at leasttwo segments having image transferring surfaces and a segment having animage receiving surface, an auxiliary cylinder remote from the path oftravel of the sheets fed between the printing couple and having asurface which is both image receiving and image transferring, thediameter of the larger cylinder of the printing couple being a multipleof the diameter of the auxiliary cylinder, and means for impartingpredetermined relative movement between the axes of the auxiliarycylinder and the larger cylinder during each cycle .of operation of thelarger cylinder to move the surface carried by the auxiliary cylinderinto contact with one of the image transferring surfaces to receive animage thereon and one of the image receiving surfaces to transfer theimage thereto, and out of contact with the other image transferringsurface of the larger cylinder.

5. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, the diameterof one of the cylinders being a multiple of the diameter of the other,the larger cylinder carrying a plurality of segments including imagetransferring and image receiving surfaces, an auxiliary cylinder havinga surface which is both image receiving and image transferring, thediameter of the smaller cylinder of the printing couple being a multipleof the diameter of the auxiliary cylinder, and means for imparting apredetermined controlled movement to the axis of the auxiliary cylinderduring each cycle of operation of the larger cylinder of the printingcouple to move the surface carried by the auxiliary cylinder intocontact with one of the image transferring surfaces to receive an imagethereon and one of the image receiving surfaces to transfer the imagethereto, and out of contact with still another image transferringsurface of the larger cylinder.

'6. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are 1 1 cylinder carrying aplurality of segments, at least two of said segments having imagetransferring surfaces, and at least one of said segments having an imagereceiving surface, an auxiliary cylinder having a surface which is bothimage receiving and image transferring, the circumference of the surfaceof the auxiliary cylinder being equal to the circumferential length ofthe segments of including means for inking the two image transferringsurfaces of the larger cylinder with different colored ink,

whereby the composite image is multi-colored.

8. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, the diameterof one of the cylinders being a multiple of the diameter of the other,the larger cylinder carrying a plurality of segments including an imagetransferring surface and an image receiving surface, an auxiliarycylinder having a surface which is both image receiving and imagetransferring, the diameter of the larger cylinder of the printing couplebeing a multiple of the diameter of the auxiliary cylinder, and meansfor imparting a predetermined controlled movement to the axis of theauxiliary cylinder during each cycle of operation of the larger cylinderof the printing couple to move the surface carried by the auxiliarycylinder into contact with one of the image transferring surfaces toreceive an image thereon and with the image receiving surface of thelarger cylinder to transfer the same image at least twice thereto, andout of contact with the other image transferring surface of the largercylinder.

9. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, one of thecylinders being larger than the other, the larger cylinder carrying aplurality of segments including image transferring and image receivingsurfaces, an auxiliary cylinder remote from the path of travel of thesheet and having a surface which is both image receiving and imagetransferring, the cylinders forming the printing couple and auxiliarycylinder all being of different diameter, the diameter of the largercylinder of the printing couple being a multiple of the diameter of thesmaller cylinder thereof, and the diameter of the smaller cylinder ofthe printing couple being a multiple of the diameter of the auxiliarycylinder, and

means for imparting a predetermined controlled movevment to the axis ofthe auxiliary cylinder during each cycle of operation of the largercylinder of the printing couple to move the surface carried by theauxiliary cylin-- der into contact with one of the image transferringsurfaces of the larger cylinder to receive-an 1mage thereon and one ofthe image receiving surfaces to transfer an image thereto, and out ofcontact with still another image transferring surface of the largercylinder.

10. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, the diameterof the two cylinders being in the ratio of 2:1, the surface of thelarger cylinder carrying a plurality of segments including imagetransferring and image receiving surfaces, an auxiliary cylinder havinga surface which is both image receiv ng and image transferring, theratio of the diameters of the larger cylinder of the printing couple andthe aux liary cylinder being at least 4:1, and meansfor imparting apredetermined controlled movement to the; axis of the auxiliary cylinderduring each cycle of operation of the larger cylinder of the printingcouple to move'the surface of the auxiliary cylinder into contact withone of the image transferring surfaces to receive an image thereon andone of the imagereceiving surfaces to transfer an image thereto.

' llpA rotary printing press as set forth in claim 10 wherein thesmaller cylinder of the printing couple carries a surface which is imagereceiving, the image from the image transferring surface of the largercylinder of the printing couple which is not transferred to the surfaceof the auxiliary cylinder being transferred to the'surface of thesmaller cylinder of the printing couple between the feed of sheetstherebetween.

12. A rotary printing press as set forth in claim 10 wherein the largercylinder has two image transferring segments and the images of bothimage transferring segments of the larger cylinder are transferred insuperposed relationship on the surface of the auxiliary cylinder and thesuperposed images transferred from the auxiliary cylinder to an imagereceiving segment of the larger cylinder to print a composite of thesuperposed images.

13. A rotary printing press comprising a pair of cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, the diameterof one of the cylinders being a multiple of the diameter of the other,the larger cylinder carrying a plurality of segments, which segmentsinclude at least two segments having image transferring surfaces and asegment having an image receiving surface, an auxiliary cylinder remotefrom the path of travel of the sheets fed between the printing coupleand having a surface which is both image receiving and imagetransferring, the diameter of the larger cylinder'of the printing couplebeing a multiple of the diameter of the auxiliary cylinder, means forimparting a predetermined controlled movement to the axis of theauxiliary cylinder during each cycle of operation of the larger cylinderof the printing couple to move the surface carried by the auxiliarycylinder into contact with one of the image transferring sur faces toreceive an image thereon and with one of the image receiving surfaces totransfer an image thereto, and out of contact with the other imagetransferring surface of the larger cylinder, means for conditioning thecylinders forming the printing couple for separatiom'means forconditioning the auxiliary cylinder for separation from the largercylinder of the printing couple whenever the cylinders forming theprinting couple are conditioned for separation and independently thereofat other times as well, and means for separately triggering'theseparation of the larger cylinder and the smaller cylinder, on the onehand, and the auxiliary cylinder from the larger cylinder, on the otherhand.

14. In a rotary printing press, first and second cylinders forming aprinting couple between which sheets are periodically fed, thecircumference of said first cylinder having a plurality of differentareas, said areas including a printing surface and an image receivingsurface, an auxiliary cylinder having an image receiving surface, andmeans for imparting a predetermined series of movements to the auxiliarycylinder during each complete revolution of said first cylinder to movetheauxiliarycylinder into contact with the larger cylinder to receivethe image from the printing surface and to repeat the image at leasttwice on the image receiving surface.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 857,331Cornwall June is, 1907 1,105,965 Cornwall Aug. 4, 1914 2,542,073 AberleFeb. 2Q, 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS v 3 345,872 Germany Dec. 19, .1921 32,348'France Nov. 28, 1927

